


Don't Ask Me Why

by phnelt



Series: All In [2]
Category: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (TV)
Genre: Banter, Established Relationship, F/F, Lesbian Bar, Period Accurate, mostly because there are very few details
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-09-12 14:12:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16874361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phnelt/pseuds/phnelt
Summary: Two women walk into a bar - could be the opening to a joke right? But looking around at the slew of well-known faces, Susie's starting to think this maybe wasn't the best place to bring Midge on a date.





	Don't Ask Me Why

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Sapote for the read through!

It’s a Thursday night and they don’t have a show booked, so in a fit of madness Susie decides to take Midge out to her old haunt, Tony’s. Before Midge, she’d be there twice a week cruising. Midge seemed game when she described the place - apparently she’d never been to a Lesbian bar, shocking news: rich, upper east side housewife has not seen the best the New York scene has to offer.

Tony’s itself was a basement of a place, a little dark and the upholstery had seen better times from when it had been a gentleman’s social club. But it was the type of place where you knew people and they knew you and you could always find an unattached girl.

Which Susie is vividly, horribly remembering when Sharon does a full once over on Midge once they’re at the bar and says, 

“What, you couldn’t hold onto a gay girl so you imported a straight one?”

“Hi there Sharon, nice to see you.” Sharon gave Susie a grudging look that said she wasn’t real sure if it was nice to see Susie but she wasn’t going to say it outright. She was wearing a tight green dress, nothing fancy, but it brought out the brown in her eyes. 

“This is a new low, even for you and you’ve had plenty.” Susie cringes a little, remembering their last fight and some choice words she had said about Sharon’s general unfitness to ever be a mother. She may have deserved to have that coffee maker thrown at her head, but it’s never brewed right since. 

“Girl, you should come sit with us, we can tell you some stories about this one here,” she jerks her thumb at Susie. Susie looks back at that table and Christ, has this bar always been more than half full of women she’s screwed? Maybe this was not a good choice

“We’re all right, thanks,” Susie said smiling tightly, turning Midge away. But Midge, as always, will not be turned.

“Susie, I think I want to hear what she had to say!” 

“Yeah, Suse, let her hear,” she said mockingly. Sharon turned back to Midge, “Listen, this might just be tourism for you, but watch yourself. This one can mess you up. And if she does, you can always come back here and join the club.” She gestured to the bar and four other women raised their glasses and nodded.

“Oh Jesus,” Susie muttered.

“What does that mean,” Midge said, but Sharon had already grabbed her drinks and turned back to a cluster of women in the back. Midge turned to Susie. “What did she mean?” Susie groaned a little, understandably.

“Nothing, it’s nothing, let’s just go.”

“No, I think maybe I want to stay and find out a little more about what ‘nothing’ means.” Midge turned towards the women in the back and Susie grabbed her elbow.

“Not a good idea, sweetheart.”

“Why not, seems like a perfectly reasonable question to get answered. Why do half the women in this bar look at you like you insulted your mother and the other half are looking at you like you’re meat. Yeah, I see you, she’s going home with me so you can put your tongues back in your mouth.” Midge turned back to Susie, “so if it’s all equal to you, I’m going to go where I’m pretty sure the nice lady in the Kerrybrooke dress will tell me everything I want to know.”

Susie threw her hands in the air. “Fine! You’re impossible, you know that!” Midge looked like she was going to argue, so Susie headed her off at the pass. “I’m cold. I have ‘intimacy issues,’ apparently.” A woman at the bar snorted before looking quickly back at her drink before Midge could zero in on her.

“Intimacy issues? That’s balderdash, we were intimate three times last night.” More hastily stifled laughs from around the bar. They were collecting a real ring of onlookers now.

Susie continued much more quietly. “No, more like  _ emotional stuff.”  _ She whispered those last words like poison darts. She continued in a more normal tone, “like when I don’t talk about my family and shit.” Midge mulled that over for a bit.

“But you do talk about your family.”

“I didn’t want to, that’s what that means.” Midge mulled some more.

“No one wants to talk about their feelings, that’s why there’s alcohol.” She waves her hand dismissively before looking at Susie expectantly. Christ, this woman was going to be the death of her. She wears down your defenses with her aggressive, yet insightful word onslaught then she turns the Bambi lamps on and that’s the real torture. Eyes that blue with cheekbones like that should be illegal.

“Well, when you’re with someone you love,” The last word kind of came out strangled and this is why she doesn’t do this sort of shit, “you’re supposed to want to. And I don’t,” Midge looks at her with understanding all of a sudden and that’s worse. She clears her throat. “Also, I’m stubborn and work bad hours and I’ve got a vicious mouth on me.”

“Let me make sure I understand this.” She puts her fist on her hip. Killer move. She knew she should never have brought Midge here. ‘ _ Oh let’s go out,’  _ she said, ‘ _ I wish we didn’t have to pretend all of the time,’  _ she said. And now here they are, Susie about on the verge to have her heart ripped out in front of a herd of lionnesses who would be more than happy to eat it right in front of her face. 

“You don’t like to talk about your feelings. Well, I stand by my statement that no one wants to - “ she holds up a finger, “and let’s be real, you’re talking about your feelings right now! So I don’t see a problem there. No that’s not enough at all. And to be frank, this isn’t the first time. All that stuff you told me when we were eating fries, that’s all real emotion stuff. It still counts even if you grumble about it afterwards. All of the other stuff, who cares! Your stubbornness is what we’re building our dream on, and your mouth is your best feature.” Susie casts a glance around, but it doesn’t look like anyone’s ready to jump on that obvious opening, they’re too caught up in hurricane Midge.

Midge picks up her glass and downs it. She gestures to the bartender but Susie makes a cancelling motion. “Whaddya say we cut out a bit early.” Midge looks at her confused but before she can do something else mortifying like ask ‘Why?’ Susie gets right up into her space and mutters, “I’m feeling a change in atmosphere if you know what I mean.” Midge’s eyes widen.

“Oh. Right. Yeah sure.”

She starts striding towards the door before turning and hurrying back to the bar. She drops some bills on the counter. She turns to the bartender. “The drink was lovely, a little heavy on the absinthe though you can smooth that out with a dash of sugar, it’s a family trick, always works wonders.” She turns to go and Susie kind of helplessly follows in her wake.

Before she can leave, Carol purrs at her, “Susie, do return. And bring your pet along, if you’d like.” Her words always have that slight edge to them, but Susie’s touched cause she can tell Carol means it. Susie risks a look around the room and is surprised to meet approving glances. From in the back, Sharon raises her eyebrows in a salute before graciously nodding her head.

“Uh, I guess I’ll be seeing you then.” She nods to the room in general before slipping out to meet Midge on the pavement.

“What took you so long?” Susie smiles at her a little, wishing she could press her face into Midge’s neck. Though with their height difference she’d probably end up straight in her bazooms, which would be no hardship.

“Just squaring things away.” And they walked off towards the subway.

**Author's Note:**

> I took the bar 'Tony's' from the Lesbian pulp fiction story "Chris," by Randy Salem (1959) cause it's the lesbian bar there.
> 
> If you liked this story, consider retweeting it: [here](https://twitter.com/phnelt/status/1070500376061693952) or reblogging it on tumblr (if we're still doing that): [here](https://tmblr.co/ZD3Daw2eREldB)
> 
>  
> 
> You can also find me on Dreamwidth as phnelt.


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